Applying Lateral Wisdom to Personal, Organizational, and Church Learning

Innovation

June 09, 2010

Today I was sharing some ideas with a few colleagues about how to increase attendance. No sooner had I shared a portion of my idea then it was attacked. “It can’t be tracked.” “Who will monitor it?” “Why would we do it this way, it won’t work.”

My idea was just spouting and was stomped. It is a natural reaction. It brought to mind something I just read about in a great book called Think Better by Tim Hurson.

Tim calls this Gator Brain. Gator Brain is a strategy used to avoid having to think about an idea. You see, alligators don’t have much choice about how to react to new stimuli or sensory input.

“If a new creature comes into it’s territory, a gator can flee, it can try to feed on intruder, it may try to mate with the intruder, or it can freeze.” So depending on the size or nature of the intruder the gator is limited to those reactions.

My idea was the intruder!

“When encountering a new idea, your gator brain will see it either as a threat and therefore fight it or flee from it or as prey and therefore destroy it by devouring it. If your gator brain recognizes the invading idea as an old idea (like an alligator of the opposite sex), it may try to mate it, simply reproducing and reinforcing the old idea. Finally, if the invading idea just doesn’t fit at all, your gator brain’s response is to freeze.”

My idea caused some to attack and some to freeze. Most of us can relate. Gators are all around us. The shame is, education is in dire need of fresh ideas, but there is no telling how many great ideas ended up a victim of gator brain.

May 12, 2010

Satisfice:
A virus that results from the combination of satisfying and sufficing. Known to
frequently infect educators who are being asked to develop ideas and plans of
action for schools and school districts.

It
is a deadly virus that infects grade level, department, PLC, school leadership,
and district decision and planning meetings. The virus does not harm the host
educator, but rather kills potential creative innovative ideas that might arise
from the host by creating an urge to hastily accept the first idea or decision that satisfies the members and suffices as an acceptable outcome.

“In
1957, economics Nobel Laureate Herbert Simon published a book called Models of
Man. In it, he examined the default human decision-making process in which we
tend to go with the fist option that offers an acceptable payoff. Simon said
that by nature we ‘satisfice’—his term, combining satisfy and suffice. In other
words, we have a tendency to settle for ‘good enough,’ opting for whatever
seems to expeditiously meet the minimum requirement needed to move us closer to
achieving a given goal. We then stop looking for other ways, including the best
way, to solve the problem. We rationalize that the optimal solution is too
difficult, not worth the effort involved, or simply unnecessary.”

“We
mistakenly pose the question “What should we do?” before asking “What is
possible?” We want a solution, but we don’t have the patience to wait for the
optimal one, favoring implementation over incubation. We throw some resources
at the problem and move on, or tweak a previous solution and fit it to the
current situation. We fail to look more holistically at the challenge. The
result is we simply don’t see the best, most elegant solution.”

While
the prognosis may seem grim, there is a cure, a miracle cure that can save
thousands of educators from falling victim to satisfice.

“Studies
have shown that in Osborn’s kind of good brainstorming, the first third of the
session tends to produce mundane, every-one-has thought-of-them-before ideas.”

“Generally
the second third of a good brainstorming session produces ideas that begin to
stretch boundaries.”

“The
third third is where the diamonds lie. These are the potential breakthrough
ideas that often lead to innovative solutions. These are the unexpected
connections. Whereas bad brainstorming tends to stop at the first reasonable
idea and judge all others out of existence, good brainstorming encourages the
generation of long lists of ideas by separating creative thinking and critical
thinking.”

In other words, education has for too long been suffering from the satisfice virus and ignoring the cure. The cure is great ideas. Creative ideas. Innovative ideas. The satisfice virus has confused our brains into accepting the first idea that seems to move the agenda along. And all of education has paid the price.

“Bad
brainstorming is binary; ideas are either good or bad. Good brainstorming is
full of maybes. In bad brainstorming, we never get to the third third. In good
brainstorming getting to the third third is the point”

Imagine
the impact for students, teachers, parents, schools, school districts, and
communities if more educators used “The Miracle of the Third Third” in their
planning and decision making meetings to defeat the satisfice virus. You might
not believe in miracles now, but just wait until you feel the healing effects
of the third third in your next planning or decision-making meeting.

“Trusting
in a sense, means giving something away and ceding power to others, an
essential step in achieving the outward focus needed in a
hyperconnected world. Trust empowers others, but because it is a
virtue.”

In the classroom that means taking the first step to give away our
perception of control and to trust the students and teachers. As an administrator, you
must give power away to others to develop trust in them and their trust
in you.

RiskIf there is no trust, “We
drive slower, act cautiously, shrink our circle of friends and
associates, and generally default more conservative impulses. When
there is trust in the room, however, all of these tendencies are
reversed. We are secure and so can act boldly. We feel free to invent
new process…”

We experiment and try new things. Imagine how a student would feel
if he or she was secure enough to try new things, stretch themselves,
and take a risk without fear of failure. Imagine if your teachers felt they could take risks that might need to new ways of better meeting the needs of students. Teachers who feel trusted will be more likely to innovate and create and share better ideas and practices.

Innovation

“In
a trusting environment, everyone feels emboldened to take more risks.
They challenge the system more, they solve problems, and they don’t
stay in small boxes afraid to venture into new territory for fear of
criticism (by bosses or colleagues). Innovation flows from this
creative spirit.”

In a trusting environment teachers would be more open to teaching a
new grade or teaching a new class. With trust, a teacher will be more open
to sharing new ideas and insight with colleagues. Administrators, if you
felt more trust, you would be more willing to experiment with bold
programs. Teachers and administrators innovating new ideas without fear
of criticism could generate great benefits for students.

Progress“What happens when you innovate? You create progress.”

Progress is not just limited to higher test scores. Progress extends to personal progress.

“We go on TRIPs because we want to accomplish big things. We go
on TRIPs because we want to solve real problems and because we want to
create lasting value.”

We go on TRIPs because helping build minds and making a difference
is why we got into education in the first place. We go on TRIPs to make
an impact.

But there is more to TRIP

T“The T stands for
transparency, which creates trust. Interpersonal transparency is a
necessary power to thrive in a connected world, and not coincidentally,
it creates trust."

When the teachers you work with can see that you are being open and
transparent with your ideas, lessons, plans, etc. then they develop
trust in you. For a department or grade level to be successful, a
condition of transparency must exist. If others think you are hiding
something, then they are not going to share what they know. We have all
seen or know teachers who are hoarders of ideas. We have all seen and
know teachers who are territorial about ideas, or committees, or
duties, etc. When these teachers are not transparent, then the others
they work begin to feel they need to close up and keep their ideas or
territories. We become little islands or silos, each trying to keep
their ideas to themselves in hope that they will be perceived as a,
“great teacher.” Meanwhile all the kids at the school suffer from this
lack of transparency. We must open up and share our best practices and
ideas. All of the students deserve the best, not just the ones in my
class.

R The R stands forReputation

Do you know what your reputation is? It may not be what you think.
Perception is reality, as they say, so your reputation is largely going
to be determined by the perception of those you teach and work with. It
may not be what you intended it to be, but it is what others think it
is.

I The I stands forInstinct

When there is trust, this can unleash you instinct. “When you are
in a trust-filled situation, these synapses are strong. The various
centers of your brain communicate seamlessly and rapidly, and you can
then make split-second decisions that often pay off.”

Wouldn’t it be easier if you worked and taught in a situation that
allowed you to make quick decision without second-guessing
yourself due to lack of trust in your students, your co-workers, or
your principal. To work in an environment of trust will allow you to
make decision in the best interest of the students each and every time
without going through all the machinations that those who work where
there is no trust will likely go through.

However, I took the liberty of adding another meaning to the I. I The I
can also stand for Individual.

We in education are being told exactly
what to teach, when to teach, and how to teach. There must be room for
the individual talents and ideas of each teacher or administrator. In
an environment of trust, each individual teacher or administrator can
offer his or her unique ideas and viewpoints.

P The P stands for perennial prosperity.

Prosperity can mean performance. Prosperity can be translated to
mean results. Trust brings results. Results from the teachers and
administrators, which, in the end, translates to results from the
students and the school. Performance increases steadily in the
direction of great results.

Trust is key. We need to have trust. I get so tired of people who
want to just talk about what has to be done without ever spending to
reflect on the HOW it will be done. If we don’t figure out the HOWs
then the “whats” won’t be accomplished. Is it worth our time as
teachers and administrators to take some time to get our HOWs right?

So how do we get a TRIP going? You
figure out where you are, where you want to go, and most importantly,
you listen to each other. Our students are counting on us to get going
on this TRIP.

December 01, 2009

Innovation should not be linear. Most of us are familiar with examples of the great innovation teams from the business and engineering world. Examples such as Xerox- PARC’s group, to Apple’s Macintosh group, to Lockheed Martin’s famous “Skunk Works” have lead many of us to believe that innovative ideas should be developed by groups of “creative people” somewhere outside of school and then be brought into the school for teachers and administrators to execute. That is linear innovation and linear innovation should not be the goal of schools and school districts. Innovation should not be separated from schools and the district.

“If innovation is linear, the idea stage can be separated out and placed in a more creative unit of the organization, and the execution can still take place in a more traditional bureaucratic structure.”

Many of us have been conditioned to believe this is the way is should work in our schools. Let the experts come up with the ideas and then tell us what to do. But if we allow that mindset to continue then the schools or school districts never develop the capacity to bring their creativity, knowledge, and ideas to bear. Simply sitting back and waiting for other to think it up for us does nothing to develop innovation abilities.

Sawyer points out that,"... although separation can be good for short-term creativity, it interferes with long term innovation: An isolated “skunk works” usually has trouble communicating with the rest of the organization because innovation requires collaboration across the company.”

In other words, for the long-term benefit of the school or district, the best innovation is not linear, but lateral. We need to innovation and create together because everyone at the school or in the district is needed to collaborate on the new idea of innovation to effectively implement it and embed it. Collaborating laterally, across the team, the grade level, the department, the school, and the district.

Different cultures, different styles of communication, and different perspectives are natural barriers to those on the outside of the school or district. It makes it difficult to interface with the school or district, which are being asked to execute their innovations.

“The skunk works model places all its hope on one big flash of inspiration that must come from a select group of special people. But we’ve seen that even the most transformative new products and systems emerge from many small sparks of insight. Successful innovative companies keep these small sparks inspiring the next one.”

Lateral innovation occurs when teacher and administrators working next to each other day-in and day-out collaborate on these “small sparks” of insight and inspiration to produce innovation from within. These innovations are more likely to overcome the barriers that innovation from outside faces. Lateral innovation has more buy-in, is more contextual, and more focused.

If you want to make innovation a strength and capacity of your school or district, don’t look outside for linear innovation, but look inside for lateral innovation.

November 18, 2009

"It will never work.""We don’t have the budget to do it." "It will take to much time and we just don’t have any to waste." "The district won’t like it." "Teachers won’t want to do that." "That isn’t the way we do things at this school.""What does that have to do with test scores?"

These are just a sample of the typical answers we in education hear when we have an idea. Don’t scoff to easily, think about it a second. After a few perfunctory, “That’s great” or “Sounds interesting” we generally work our way to some of those responses.

What we need is some principals, directors, managers, and superintendents who encourage and support innovation. If change or improvement is what we seek, then changing what we do or how we do it should be encouraged not discouraged.

Mitch Ditkoff writes at The Heart Innovation, the weblog of Idea Champions, that we need managers who are Innovation Coaches. We need managers and leaders who can encourage and develop ideas.

“Most managers, unfortunately, perceive new ideas as problems -- especially if the ideas are not their own. Bottom line, they don't pay enough attention to the ideas of the people around them. They say they want to innovate. They say they want "their people" to do something different. But they do precious little to support their subordinates in their efforts to do so. They foist their ideas on others and can't figure out why things aren't happening faster.

“That's not how change happens. If people are only acting out somebody else's ideas, it's only a matter of time before they feel discounted, disempowered and... well...just plain dissed. People are more than hired hands; they are hired minds and hearts, as well.”

Coaches empower others to reach within themselves and pull out their best, their best ideas and innovations. We need managers who will coach their people to pull out their best ideas and support them in the endeavor of finding, creating, and developing these ideas into innovative practices that impact their schools and their students. We need school administrators who can become Innovation Coaches.

“If you want to empower people, honor their ideas. Give them room to challenge the status quo. Give them room to move -- and, by extension, move mountains. Why? Because people identify most with their ideas. "I think therefore, I am" is their motto. People feel good when they're encouraged to originate and develop ideas. It gives their work meaning, makes it their own, and intrinsically motivates.

“Who has the power in an organization? The people who are allowed to think for themselves and then act on their ideas! Who doesn't have power? The people who have to continually check-in with others.

“Think about it. The arrival of a new idea is typically accompanied by a wonderful feeling of upliftment and excitement -- even intoxication. It's inspiring to have a new idea, to intuit a new way of getting the job done. Not only does this new idea have the potential to bring value to the company, it temporarily frees the idea originator from their normal habits of thinking. A sixth sense takes over, releasing the individual from the gravity of status quo thinking.”

Nothing is more powerful and unstoppable than empowered and excited teachers. Those are the teachers who can change the world. So we need to be open to and encourage our teachers to bring ideas to us.

“You, as a manager, want to increase the number of new ideas being pitched to you. It's that simple. You want to create an environment where new ideas are popping all the time. If you do, old problems and ineffective ways of doing things will begin dissolving. This is the hallmark of an empowered organization -- a place where everyone is encouraged and empowered to think creatively. Within this kind of environment managers become coaches, not gatekeepers.”

Innovation and change doesn’t happen because you have some catchy vision statement printed on a poster and posted in all the classrooms. That is leadership through lamination. What is needed is leadership through co-creation and co-innovation.

“Creativity cannot be legislated. It cannot be sustained by mission statements and pep talks. What needs to happen is you, as a manager, need to change the way you relate to people. Each encounter you have with another in the workplace needs to quicken the likelihood that their unexpressed ideas will get a fair hearing -- enabling a far greater percentage of them to eventually take root.”

So the next time one of your people comes to you with an idea, be a Innovation Coach and help them develop the idea into something truly innovative.

Mitch suggests…* "That sounds interesting. Can you tell me more?"* "What excites you the most about this idea?"* "What is the essence of your idea - the core principle?"* "How do you imagine your idea will benefit others?"* "In what ways does your idea fit with our strategic vision?"* "What information do you still need?"* "Who are your likely collaborators?"* "Is there anything similar to your idea on the market?* "What support do you need from me?"* "What is your next step?"